Madness Shared
by DrLarastone
Summary: Mulder and Scully discuss the true meaning of madness and belief on an elevator trip to the basement


written by Nora Katherine  
  
date: 12th May 1998 =================== AUTHOR'S NOTE: Duh, I wonder what *this* story is about? Well, I was sitting there after watching "Folie a Deux," and you know how my mind works. (No, not like *that* this time, you guys! Jeez ... just because they call me a "High Priestess of Perversion" ...) but seriously, so I thought a little conversation between our two agents might be in order. =================== DISCLAIMER: Don't own `em, don't own `em ... God help me, don't sue me, I can barely afford to take a vacation this year ...  
  
DISTRIBUTE: Anywhere. Please keep my name attached. Please send me feedback.  
  
RATING: PG  
  
CONTENT/SPOILER: Mulder/Scully UST. Spoilers for "Folie a Deux."  
  
ARCHIVE: V  
  
SUMMARY: Mulder and Scully discuss the true meaning of madness and belief on an elevator trip to the basement.  
  
DEDICATED TO: Kelly, because without you, this story would never be. And Fee, for our hiliarious discussion on the true meaning of "mad." =====================  
  
"Madness Shared ... " (part 1/1)  
  
As Fox Mulder watched his parter Dana Scully head down the hallway towards him, an irratic thought punctured his brain.   
  
He shook the distracting thoughts out of his head and cocked it slightly towards her as she reached him ... I wonder if that's a new suit.  
  
"What did you tell him?" he asked, watching her lips purse up, and wondered what was going through that little but powerful mind of hers.  
  
Finally, they moved. "The truth." A pause. As if that wasn't the answer he expected to hear, Mulder thought. She continued on. "As well as I understand it."  
  
Mulder waited again.   
  
"Folie a deux," she continued, stepping onto the elevator as the doors slowly slid shut. "A madness shared by two."  
  
There was a bit of a pause before another sound emerged. Mulder's feet shuffling broke the silence, and he turned to her. She looked up, surprised to see Mulder staring at her that way. The only thing this could mean was that she was in for a good chewing-out. She stared back at him, her gaze as equally hardened as his.  
  
"So that's what you think the truth is, Scully? A madness."  
  
His tone was decievingly quiet. It was only because Scully knew him =that= well that she realized what he was doing. "Yes, Mulder. There is no good scientific evidence to support that ..."  
  
"There you go again, Scully."  
  
She looked up at him, her blue eyes blazing like fire. "There I go, what?" she demanded suddenly, frowning so darkly, Mulder almost felt the lights in the elevator dim.  
  
"You copped out, Scully. You couldn't tell Skinner the truth."  
  
"The truth?" Scully burst out. "The truth? What do you think the truth is? That a monster exists? That some =big, giant bug= is out wreaking havoc on innocent telemarketing employees and turning them into zombies? Zombies, Mulder..." Scully reinforced, to prove how silly the entire thing sounded.  
  
"You saw it, Scully," Mulder said, barely above a whisper. "I know you saw it, I could see the look on your face."  
  
"What I saw, Mulder ..." Scully sighed, and trailed off. She shook her head, and took a couple steps away from Mulder to create space between them. "It had to be a folie a deux, Mulder. We're just lucky that my story stuck, and we got you out of the psychiatric ward."  
  
"You know... " Mulder said with an ironic chuckle, "I know they always expected me..." He laughed slightly again, "to be the crazy one. But you, Scully, you..." He started towards her again, stopping right before they were practically touching. Scully had been taking small steps backwards, and was now pressed up against the elevator wall, doing her best to see to the height of his six-foot-one frame. "You were always the scientifc one... you're the one that keeps `ol `Monster Boy' sane ... you make me safe for commerical consumption."  
  
Scully didn't say anything, but kept her gaze locked up at him.  
  
Suddenly, the elevator doors to the basement opened. Agents Mulder and Scully both turned to see the very surprised and amused faces of two other agents carrying boxes full of paperwork back for upstairs. Mulder and Scully both coughed simultaneously, and filed out of the elevator.  
  
Mulder offhandedly caught one of the other agents muttering, "You'd think they could keep their alien sex-games outside the building."  
  
"Ah, but you know that they wouldn't live up to being the `spookys' for nothing, then..." the other one commented, just as the elevator door closed.  
  
For a split-second, Mulder had the urge to rush up the stairs to catch the two agents as they got off and show them a piece of what they really deserved. But as Mulder thought about it, he knew he'd only be feeding their fire if he did something like that. And after his attempt at attacking Pinkus the other day, Skinner would have had him permenantly committed this time...  
  
As they reached the office door, both of them pulled out their keys, but Scully caught the lock first. She continued on with their conversation as if nothing had happened. "What are you talking about, me?"  
  
"Huh?" Mulder asked, forcing his brain to retrace his steps. He had gotten distracted again I wonder what possessed her to buy a lavender suit ... and had think about what they had been saying. "I mean, what I'm saying..." Mulder went on, finally remembering where he had left off, "is that you're the one who's in denial, Scully."  
  
"Denial ... Mulder? Denial?" she repeated.  
  
"You know, they say one of the first steps of denial is repeating the question." A small smile quirked up on Mulder's face.  
  
Her frown did not deviate. "Mulder, what you are failing to see is the powerful dilusions that we both were victim to ..."  
  
"You don't think that what we saw was real."  
  
"No." Her words were spoken firmly, but her expression almost gave her away for a second. "No," she said again as the mask quickly covered her face once more. "We're talking about zombies and monsters and, and -- a bug that hides in the light? This has got to be one of the most ridiculous things ..."  
  
"More ridiculous than a giant fluke worm?"  
  
A hint of a smile formed on Scully's face. There was a short beat before she replied, "Or more ridiculous than a breed of dung-eating mechicanical cockroaches from another planet?"  
  
Mulder smiled back, but this time, more widely. "Or how about stranger than having your own alien autopsy video?"  
  
"Oh, Mulder..." Scully said looking away. "God, that thing was so embarrassing."  
  
Before she saw it, Scully felt Mulder's presence upon her as his hands came up along her arms. "You see, Scully... we've both seen some pretty strange things, and --" Mulder trailed off for a second, thinking. "I don't know ... maybe you're right. Maybe it was a madness shared by two." He looked up at her with that expression that always made her want to smile.  
  
Instead, one eyebrow perked up, as she did her best to avoid reaction.  
  
"But you have to admit, if you were going to share a madness with anyone else..."  
  
This time, Scully did smile, as Mulder pulled her into a hug. After a few moments, they parted, and Scully looked up at him, an uncharacteristically sardonic expression on her face. "Well, Mulder, maybe you were right."  
  
"Right about what, Scully?"  
  
"About lying to Skinner."  
  
This time, Mulder's eyebrows went up.  
  
"I just ... didn't want to have to tell him that our killer was a big, giant bug."  
  
=THE END 


End file.
